‘We can and should do more’

The following is excerpted from a speech by Arnold Chan, MP for Scarborough-Agincourt, who died earlier this month at age 50. The speech was delivered in the House of Commons after his death by fellow MP Mark Holland:

We are Members of Parliament, a body which is ultimately about civilized discussion and debate. The word “Parliament” itself derives from the French word “parler:” to speak. Our task is to exercise democracy through communication, deliberation and, ultimately, decision-making. Not in our own interest, but in the interest of the people.

We are representatives of, and we are responsible to, the people of our country, and it is our responsibility and our duty to try and meet the challenges of the day through our best collective effort.

We must remember that our greatest strengths lie in our civility with each other, our humility in the face of our own limitations and our willingness to serve. We can adapt to change and we can respond to challenges, but we adapt and respond best when we do so after reasoned debate with an open mind and through listening carefully to the needs of the people we serve.

But there is one more step to take in thinking about managing the problems of the future and that is to consider who the “we” of Parliament should be?

Historically, our great Parliament has been predominantly composed of men, and largely of European descent. It was only in 2014, just short of three years ago that there was a Chinese Liberal MP in the GTA — me, an Asian male.

Despite it being nearly 100 years since the first woman was elected to Parliament, we are still far from balanced. Our government has taken some good steps to address this, but we can and should do more.

We owe it to ourselves, our community and our children to continue to strive for improvement in our democratic institutions, so that we can better serve our communities and better meet those challenges of the future.